Can you be happy with living alone for a long time?

[Mr Allen]

I've lived alone in a 1 Bed Flat for nearly 12 years and I love it, I tried the whole "Shared living" thing when I was a student, and to be perfectly honest I hated it, especially being from Yorkshire in a College full of North Londoners, I got some right stick for my accent, and I spoke a lot less broad back then than I do now.

That and the EXTREMELY annoying issue of not being able to get in the Bathroom in a morning unless you got up at 7 AM before everybody else, sorry but I like my sleep, not good when you wake up bursting for a wee and there's someone in the Karzy already.

 

[paloftoon]

It's good to develop a friend network as a sounding board if you can. Maybe not everyone needs that, but some people do. www.meetup.com is a good way to slowly try to build friendships based on your interests. This also means you have to meet these people in-person when they hold meetings of course and not just join the groups on meetup.com only.

 

[AO1501]

So my question is, is it possible to live alone, or with roommates/friends without having a significant other in your life? This is what I've been asking my self for quite sometime but I will need to worry about in the future.

It is certainly possible to do this, and to be perfectly happy and contented in the process. After many years of marriage I've lived alone, in isolation from almost everyone for almost 6 years. I Know that I could stay this way the rest of my life and never feel a lack of fulfillment. I have a few friends who are not local and therefore only accessible via email/text/phone, and a daughter I talk to regularly, who lives 5 timezones away.

Life can be entirely satisfying like this, and it would take someone extraordinarily perfect for me to change my preference for this life and revert to living with a significant other again.

 

[Mary Anne]

I have lived with lovers - one relationship lasted 10 years, with others lastly 4 to 6 years. I lived with aging step mom for 11 years. I do not do well with room mates, and I really enjoy being alone. I love it! However, now in my 60s, with declining health, and doctors advising surgeries, I worry about being all alone. It’s nice to have someone there to make you soup, and bring coffee, etc. or go get prescriptions filled.

 

[Theta.G]

Depends on the environment;